Year 1 class news- 03.12.21

We have loved getting into the festive spirit this week as we walked in on Wednesday to classroom decorated by a very cheeky visitor. We found out that Father Christmas had left one of his elves behind called Buddy. Buddy has been getting up to mischief since the day he arrived from flying around the classroom to drawing minions on our snack. However, he is also very nice as he has been leaving us a new Christmas book each day to read. I do wonder what will he get up to next week...

In English, we have had a week of focusing on our handwriting. We have learnt that it is very important to sit all of our letters on the line. You have also learnt the correct formation of each letter and where to place it on the line. Is it a tall letter that goes to the top or a letter with a tail that goes under the line? You have also used to chalk outside to practice writing your letters. Towards the end of the week, you worked very hard on learning your poem for our worship next week. We have also added some actions to the poem to help us learn it.

In phonics, you have been continuing to learn your new sounds in your little groups. Each day, you have been reading to your partner and your phonics teacher. It was lovely to celebrate with your parents this week on how fluent you are all becoming! We are all very proud.

In maths, we have been coming to the end of our subtraction learning. You have consolidated your learning around counting back on a number line, using fact families and even comparing addition sums. You have even been word problem solvers by working out how many is left. It's fantastic to see how confident you have become.

In our afternoon learning you have been as busy as a bee...

In RE, we looked specifically at the part where the angels came to the shepherds to spread the good news that 'Jesus had been born'. We role played this out in the classroom and thought about how shocked the shepherds would have been. We had some fantastic shepherds and angels! We then discussed what we are afraid of and how a cold starry night would be very cold. This then brought us onto our main discussion which was what have we learnt about Jesus from this part of the Christmas story? We found out that he was born in Bethlehem in a stable, he was going to be king and he was our saviour and he was going to save us all. You then had the task to create the front page of a newspaper and you wrote about who Jesus was and why it was good news.

In Geography, we built upon our knowledge of our local area by focusing on our journey to school and what do we see. You listened carefully to Miss Haynes' journey to Wybunbury Delves and you found the places on a map. You then discussed and wrote about your journey to school. You thought carefully about the different places you see and the order that you see this places. Once you had finished your writing you drew some beautiful drawings of the places you had seen. We then built further onto our knowledge by discussing if these places were physical or human features.

In art, you were told that you were going to create a clay tile of canal art next week. We decided that first we would need to design our clay tile and we all decided what type of flower we would model. Your designs were beautiful and I could see that some people thought about their thick/ thin lines and the shading that we can put into our drawings.

In computing this week, you had a Christmassy unplugged activity to help us think about algorithms. You were given a blank Christmas tree and you had to use my list of steps to decorate your Christmas tree. You then worked in threes where somebody was the coder and the rest were the decorators. You listened carefully to your partners instructions and decorated another Christmas tree. You were all very proud of your decorations and how carefully you had listened to the clear instructions.

In music this week, we listened to a very dramatic space song. As you listened to the music you closed your eyes and listened carefully to what you think the song was about and the instruments you could hear. You were brilliant at explaining what you liked and didn't like about the song. Some of you decided it made you feel scared because of how loud it was and some of you decided it made you feel excited because it made you imagine someone landing onto the moon. We then had a go at performing the song 'The rhythm in the way we walk'. Towards the end of the lesson, we practiced our song for our worship and added actions to it. I just know your parents are going to love it!

In PE, you had me teaching you this week which was a surprise for you all! We completed a warm up together which focused on raising our heart rate and then we stretched the muscles in our body. We then completed a Christmas yoga altogether. I couldn't believe how calm you all were!

It was a very wet and windy forest school this week! We had so much fun getting muddy and splashing in all of the puddles because let's be honest that is what being a child is all about. The cold wet weather did not bother you one bit and made the lesson even more exciting. We tried to spend some time outside and some time inside so we didn't get too wet. You built upon your fire skills by adding twigs to your fires. We had a competition to see whose fire could be lit for the longest. You then had a challenge to build a den for a super hero so that they could stay dry in the rain. You were absolutely brilliant at this and your team work was fantastic.

I just want to say a huge thank you to all parents for joining me on a phone call to celebrate all of the achievements your child has made in their first term in Y1. It was lovely to hear that the progress has also been recognised at home and how much they enjoy coming to school. As their teacher, this is all I could wish for.

Your homework was emailed out to your parents and you have till next weekend to complete it. Remember homework is optional in KS1 but it does help to consolidate your child's understanding!

Have a lovely weekend Y1 and I will see you on Monday.

Miss Haynes